


This Time

by I_Write_Tragedies_Not_Sins



Series: Broken Promises Lay in Ashes [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 08:42:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9431162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Write_Tragedies_Not_Sins/pseuds/I_Write_Tragedies_Not_Sins
Summary: Mal reflects on his past on Mindoir over hot cocoa with Jack.





	

It was winter when the raiders came on Mindoir. Mal closes his eyes, head tilted back. Snowflakes fall on his cheeks, cold against his skin, as a shoulder bumps his arm.

_Pools of red stain the pure white snow. Screams echo over gunfire and bombs. Fear makes him piss himself, the warm liquid pouring down his leg as he runs._

"Hey," Jack mumbles, thrusting a thermos into his hand.

_His urine freezes to ice against his skin as he hides in the snow, praying they don't find him._

He smiles, warmth spreading in his hand, and takes a drink. Chocolate, cinnamon, and a hint of rum dance across his tongue, He leans back against the Mako. 

"I hate winter," he says. A omission, a small fact normally kept hidden, slipping through his lips.

Jack shifts next to him, an easy silence drifting between them. "Yeah. It's fuckin' cold." Her reply, when it comes, is carefully guarded, even now.

The silence stretches on again before Joker's voice crackles through the comm. "Finally found you, Commander," he says. 

Jack lets out a short burst of laughter. "You ass. You got us lost on purpose, didn't you?" she asks, punching his shoulder.

Mal grins. "This time," he admits.

He wanted to see winter with her. A better memory to cover up the ugly ones that kept him up at night. Snow lands on her tattooed head. "You look pretty when it's cold."


End file.
